


Woman Child in a State of Grace

by Diary



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkwardness, Bechdel Test Pass, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Gay Character, Established Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Friendship/Love, Honesty, Late Night Conversations, Multi, POV Multiple, Romance, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 17:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8855314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: An AU look at Liv being grounded for trying to defend Gabby. Complete.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Emmerdale. 
> 
> Author's Note: The title is from the lyrics of Faith Hill's Wild One.

Robert has a sinking feeling he’s not sure how to verbalise.

“This is just her trying to get out of her grounding!” Chas insists.

“Oh,” Liv responds, and the feeling in Robert deepens. “Wanting to spend time with my mum is- You can’t keep me from her.”

With a painful heaviness to his voice and posture, Aaron says, “No, of course not. Mum, Sandra is her mum, and if she wants to spend time with her while she’s in town-”

Liv flounces off, and Robert puts a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Hey. Both of you. Chas, Aaron’s right. If Liv wants to kip in the inn with Sandra, we have absolutely no reason to stop her.”

“She’s going to stay with Sandra until you drop the punishment,” Chas warns.

Robert has a feeling Chas is right, too.

…

Liv curls into Sandra’s arms when she arrives. “Hey, Mum.”

“Hi, baby. Oh, it’s so good to see you again. Have you been good for your brother?”

Robert hurriedly yanks Chas out of the room before she can respond.

…

“Maybe, I can take you and this friend, Gabby, of yours out for lunch this weekend,” Sandra offers.

“We don’t really hang out, anymore.”

Taking a deep breath, Sandra sits down on Liv’s bed. “Love, if something is wrong, you know you can tell me. I know- I’m not Aaron, but I am your mum, and I do love you.”

“You’ll just be mad."

“I’ll try not to be,” Sandra promises. “Has something happened?”

Liv tells her, and Sandra sighs. “And Aaron won’t listen?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

“No. I just want- I can’t ever do anything right when it comes to Chas, and now, he’s not even on my side.”

“What about Robert?”

“Aaron’s important, not me or Chas.”

“Love, what you did wasn’t good, but we all make mistakes. Is there anything I can do to help you fix this?”

“No. Gabby- she’s not worth it. I just want to put it all behind me.”

“Okay.” Sandra hesitates. “Aaron’s new to all this, Liv. So was I when I first married your dad. I made mistakes with him, and I’ve made mistakes with you. That’s just the way of families sometimes.”

“I know.”

…

Liv forcefully tugs Sandra away when she sees Gabby in the streets.

…

On Sunday, Liv says, “Thanks for today, Mum.”

Sandra hugs her. “Listen, Livvie, I’m not trying to influence you one way or another, but you know that you can always come back to live with me. Maybe- maybe, if you did, it could be better. Your Aunt Bridget would adore you, and- Baby, I’m not trying to excuse the way I was, but when your dad was alive, I was always afraid. That’s why we moved all the time, and that’s why- I know I took too much medicine, but I was so scared, and it was the only thing that helped.”

“You could have talked to me.”

“I wasn’t going to put that on you. I thought that you knowing would be too much for you. I might have gone about it wrong, but it was all about trying to keep you safe.”

…

“Oh, look who’s shown up,” Chas says. “Aaron isn’t here right now.”

Liv shrugs. “I’ll come back later."

“Oi, wait a minute,” Chas orders. “No gobby remark?”

Liv shakes her head. “No."

“Whatever you’re playing-”

“I need to get back to my mum,” Liv interrupts.

She quickly leaves.

…

Aaron lights up when he opens the door to Liv and Sandra. “Hey. Thought you might have fallen off the face of the Earth.”

Pushing past him, Liv mutters, “I need to get my stuff."

“Liv-”

Sandra grabs his arm. “Aaron, love, we need to talk. Can we sit down?”

“Yeah, of course. What’s going on?”

She sighs. “I appreciate you looking out for Liv, but she and I think it’s best she go back to Dublin with me.”

“What? No. Liv!” He goes upstairs.

“So much for knocking,” Liv comments.

“If this is about your grounding-”

“You can’t keep me from my mum just to make me-”

“This isn’t- What are you doing?”

“Packing,” she snaps. “Or trying to.”

“Liv-”

“Aaron.” Sandra tugs at him. “Let her pack, and then, we can all talk about this downstairs. I think you both need some time to gather yourselves.”

…

There’s a knock on the door.

Liv wipes her eyes. “Come in.”

Chas does. “Aaron’s pacing like mad downstairs. Leaving, huh?”

“Does my mum know you’re up here?”

“No, she’s in the loo,” Chas answers. “Can I sit down?”

A shrug is Liv's response.

“I never would have thought you’d stoop this low-”

“Oh, do one, Chas,” Liv snaps. “Since I’ve came here, every time I did something wrong, I’ve taken my punishment. I might have complained and mouthed off, but I took it. If this was just about Gabby, fine, but it’s not. You used my money without asking, you threatened to tell Aaron if I didn’t do all the dirty chores, and now, you’ve made it so he won’t even listen to me."

"You’re more his family than I’ve ever be, and he was the only reason I had for- he’s why I wanted to stay. You and Robert will be glad to see me gone, and so will Gabby, now. He might not be happy, I dunno, but if he cared, he’d have believed me when I told him what happened with Jacob.”

“What- Okay.” Chas takes a deep breath. “Let’s talk about this, yeah?”

“Oh, now you’re willing to talk? Too late.” She starts to get up.

Chas grabs her arm. “Liv, please, I know you’re angry, and maybe, I’m partly in the wrong, but please, I’m begging you, let’s just talk.”

Wrenching her arm away, Liv scoots to furthest end of the bed. “Talk, then.”

After a moment, Chas says, “I’m sorry. I’m still sore over you lying to me, but- I could have handled it better. You’re right, you’ve always taken your punishment. Love, you can ask Aaron, and he’ll gladly tell you that I’m not much of a mum. I never did well with him, and when I left, I thought I was doing what was best for him. If I’d ever known what Gordon was like, well, to be honest, I’d have killed him as soon as I got an inkling. But I thought he was a good father, and when he married your mum, even though I was jealous and hurt, I could see she was truly a good mum.”

“Whatever,” Liv says.

“I’m not finished. You know that I care about you, Liv. I don’t want you to go.”

“It’s not up to you.”

“Do you really want to go? Leave Aaron behind?”

“Yes,” Liv answers. “Or not leave Aaron, no, but when my mum came, she listened to me. He didn’t. You didn’t. Robert wouldn’t’ve if I’d tried. And fine, maybe I deserved it after the lying, but I’m sick of never being able to do anything right. Should have just listened to my mum right after the trial and went to Dublin.” She wipes her eyes. “You’re not going to change my mind. Whether you just want me to take my punishment or you’re actually sad I’m leaving, it doesn’t matter.”

“Liv,” Sandra calls. She appears in the doorway.

Liv jumps up. “Hey, Mum. Chas was just saying goodbye. I’ve most of my stuff packed. I’m going to start taking it down to the car, okay?”

“Okay, sweetheart." Once Liv has disappeared out of sight, she tiredly says, “Don’t start, Chas. I can see you gearing up. This is fully Liv’s choice, and I’m sorry if it hurts Aaron, but I have to look out for my daughter over his feelings. She’s not happy here. I think she could be happy in Ireland. I think she and Bridget will get along well, and hopefully, she’ll make some new friends at school.”

“She called you, didn’t she, and you came?”

“No. I try to call her every night. I sensed something was wrong, and I suggested I could come visit.”

“She can’t just come here and leave Aaron-”

Sandra scoffs. “I’m sorry Aaron is hurt, truly, but it is not a fifteen-year-old’s job to protect his feelings. He is a grown man. I left her here believing he would place her first and take care of her. Instead, she’s deeply unhappy.”

“She was deeply unhappy with you!”

Swallowing, Sandra nods. “I’m hoping it’ll be different this time. Thank you for all you’ve done, Chas. I’m going to go see if Liv needs help.”

…

Outside, Aaron starts, “Look, when it comes to your grounding, I-”

Liv rolls her eyes. “Why do you and your mum keep bringing that up? You care more about me not being punished enough than me leaving.”

He catches her arm. “Hold on. I thought we agreed to talk about things. Instead, you get- whatever’s going on, your answer is to go to Ireland instead of doing that?”

She glares through her tears. “I tried. In the shop. I fixed you breakfast that you refused. I tried again after that, and you said you didn’t even know why you bothered with me sometimes. Well, I don’t know why I bothered with you. When it came to my mum, I kept a lot of stuff from her, but I’m realising, now, maybe, if I hadn’t, _she_ would listened.”

“I’m listening, now,” he softly tells her.

“It’s too late. Gabby was being bullied, and I lost my temper, and maybe I deserved to be grounded for that, but you all but called me a liar and did make it out to me never taking responsibility. I do take responsibility, and that wasn’t me being wild and trying to get out of it, that was me trying to look out for a mate. Or former mate, anyway. You were supposed to- I won’t ever apologise for looking out for her, only for not going about it right.”

“Good." Kneeling down, he gives her a teary smile. “Liv- if you really want to go with your mum-”

“I do.”

“I won’t stop you. But if we can still fix this- I promise, I’ll listen in the future.”

“You say that, but the next time I get on Chas’s list, you’ll take her side, again. I love you, and I’ll send you a wedding present, but I’ve not living with a big brother who won’t be there for me when I need him. When I have no friends but a former mate who hates me, I still care about her, and she still needs someone to look out for her. ‘Course, I don’t bloody know how to handle that. It doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try to do better, but I don’t think I’m going to learn if no one will listen to me and only wants to punish me for trying.”

Sandra comes out. “Liv. Aaron.”

“I’m ready to go, Mum. Bye, Aaron. Maybe call me sometime, yeah? I love you.” She goes to get into the car.

“I love you, too,” he says.

Helping him up, Sandra turns him around, hands him some tissues from her purse, and guides him inside. “I’m sorry, love. I know you tried your best. Maybe during the summer, one of you could visit the other for a bit. I’d love to get to know Robert better, and she might have some proper fun in the village during the summer.”

Sniffling, he wipes his eyes and nose. “Yeah. Take her of Sandra, please. Promise you’ll call if she ever needs anything?”

“Of course." Carefully touching his cheek, she says, “It’s not easy even for two-parent families who don’t have anything like what we dealt with when it came to Gordon. I have told her you’ve been doing the best you can, and she might be able to see that for herself once she’s had some time.”

“Thank you, Sandra,” he dully replies. “Best get to her, yeah? I’ll be fine. Promise.”

She kisses his cheek.

…

There’s a knock on the motel door.

Sandra opens it.

“Ms Flaherty, hi, I’m Gabby. Is-”

Liv comes into view. “What are you doing here?”

“Liv,” Sandra scolds. To Gabby, she greets, “Hello, nice to meet you. Would you like to come in?”

“No, thank you. I was wondering if Liv could come out to talk to me for a few minutes.”

“Yeah, sure,” Liv says. “That is, Mum, is that okay?”

…

Once they’re away from the room, Gabby says, “I don’t have any of your stupid CDs.”

“What? I never said you did.”

“You sent Robert around to get some.”

“No, I didn’t. They must’ve been going through my room and not been able to find them, they were on the list I gave them, but I never told any of them to go to you. I know you don’t have anything of mine.”

Gabby studies her for a long moment. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I’ll ring them and make it clear. That all?”

“I had to find out from Robert you’re going to Ireland.”

Liv shrugs. “Why, do I have some CDs of yours? If so, give me a list, and soon as I find them, I promise to mail them.”

Scoffing, Gabby storms off.

…

Getting into bed, Robert ignores Aaron’s tenseness and wraps an arm around. Finding his hand, Robert gently traces on it. “I can try talking to Liv and Sandra.”

“No,” Aaron insists. “This is her choice.”

“You didn’t mess up, Aaron.”

“No? What would you call it?”

“Well, we’ve all mishandled things at certain points. Liv-”

“She needed me to listen. To be on her side. And I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were,” Robert says. “You were just pushed to a point where- She’s in the wrong, too, you know.”

“She’s a kid. She’s allowed to be, on occasion, and it’s my job to understand that. And she’s not, now. If Sandra can make her happier, do a better job than I have been, then, I don’t have the right to fight it.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not hurting.”

“As long as she’s not, that’s what matters.”

Robert continues to hold him, and eventually Aaron’s body relaxes, and he falls asleep.

…

The plane leaves on Tuesday, and Liv spends Monday morning playing in the motel’s pool until her phone chimes.

Reading the text, she hesitates, and then, goes to check to see if her mum is still sleeping.

Seeing she is, Liv heads off.

“I’m beginning to think you have a real problem,” she announces.

Blinking up at her, Gabby slurs, “’o’s ta’king.”

“You know, I should just leave you here.”

“’kay."

“Where did you even get the alcohol this time, and why in the bloody hell are you laying in the ruddy park of all places?”

Gabby rolls slightly, and Liv quickly moves away. “You’re not getting vom on my shoes.”

“I thoug’ you liked m’." Groaning and clumsily shielding her eyes, Gabby clears her throat several times. “Thought you rea’lly saw me and still liked me. Mates. Ha’ven’t had someone- someone like that in long time.”

Sitting down out of vomiting reach, Liv says, “I do like you, Gabby. And I’ve tried to be your friend. You’re the one who told me to leave you alone. Every time something bad happens, you lash out at me.”

“’m sorry. Please, don’ go to I’land.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow. Mum’s really excited. I’ve talked to my aunt on the phone, and she seems sound.”

Gabby starts crying.

Looking around in alarm, Liv quickly scoots over. “Hey, no, c’mon. Don’t cry. Not here. People are bound to show up soon! Adults, some of them with little kids. Gabby, come on.” Putting Gabby’s head in her lap, she offers, “Look, if we get out of here, when you sober up, we can have a proper talk, yeah? Maybe I won’t go to Ireland, right?”

The crying slowly turns to hiccups.

Stroking Gabby’s hair, Liv looks around. “Alright, look, do you think you can move without ruining my shoes? I don’t know where we can go, but we really can’t stay here.”

“No,” Gabby answers. “I feel sick.”

Liv moves just in time to avoid being hit by said sickness.

“Right. Are you done?”

“Pro’lly not.”

Standing up, Liv closes her eyes for a moment. Opening them, she says, “To be honest, I don’t see much of a choice but to try dragging you.”

“Jus’ leave.”

“See, there you go again, always lashing out or pushing me away. I’m not leaving you sick and drunk in a park by yourself. Now, could you just try not to scream? Or at least not too loudly.”

“I think I’m going to be sick again.”

And she is.

“I’m starting to think I need to find some way to get you to A&E,” Liv mutters.

Her mobile rings, and she jumps. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Aaron says. “Where are you? Me and Robert came by to-”

“Is my mum up?”

“Yeah, she went to the store to- Liv, what’s going on?”

“Talk to you later." Hanging up, she calls her mum.

“Hey, Liv,” Robert answers. “Sorry, your mum left her mobile behind.”

“Is that- give me that. Liv,” Aaron’s voice says.

“Alright, look, remember these conversations we’ve been having? I know you and my mum both are going to give me hell for this, but it’s really, truly important that that waits until later. You or Robert need to get my mum and tell her to come down to the park. Tell her to bring extra taxi fare, too.”

“Robert’s going now. Liv, I’m calm, and I promise, I won’t yell. Just tell me what’s going on. Please.”

“Gabby- ugh! This makes three times she’s thrown up in the last ten minutes. I swear, I don’t know where she got the alcohol. But she’s incredibly drunk and sick, and she needs A&E.”

“I’ll be there in-”

“Just get my mum.”

“Robert is, Liv, but I’m coming, too. Now, I need you to answer some questions and do what I tell you. First of all, is…”

…

At the park, Aaron finds Liv lightly slapping at Gabby’s face. “No, stay awake, you can sleep once we get to A&E. Look, Aaron’s here. If you have to, you can really round things out by getting sick on him or me mum.”

Murmuring, Gabby weakly swats her own hands around.

Picking up the empty nearby bottle, Aaron throws it away. “Here.” He carefully picks Gabby up. “Go open the backdoor for us, yeah?”

Once Gabby’s settled in the backseat, he tells Liv, “If you want, you can sit in the floorboard and keep an eye on her.”

Immediately crawling in, Liv wraps her hands around one of Gabby’s.

Shutting the door, he gets in the driver’s side and starts the car. “Liv, you’re not in any trouble. I mean, you won’t be, whatever the answer. But there could’ve been something bad in the alcohol itself. Just tell me if you drank any.”

“I didn’t. Gabby sent me a weird text, and I used this app to find her phone. The bottle was empty when I got there. We talked for a few minutes, I didn’t realise how sick she was at first.”

“Everybody ‘inks ‘m ‘ick,” Gabby declares.

In the mirror, Aaron watches Liv rub Gabby’s cheek. “Gabby, you are literally sick right now,” she points out in a gentle tone. “You’ve vom’d three times, you keep trying to fall asleep, you can’t even speak in full words.”

“Leas’ your brother is sad.”

“Okay."

“No, he is,” Gabby insists. “Every- ever- people ‘n my family- you’re the only one who don’t- now, you’re leaving, an’ ya don’t care. Gonna drag me, you were.”

“What,” Aaron asks.

“Yes, before you called, I was going to try to drag her somewhere. Which, looking back, wasn’t much of a plan, but no, I didn’t think of calling you or Mum before then. We’ve well established I usually have no idea what to do in bad situations, alright? Just stay out of our conversation. Oi,” she slaps at Gabby again, “no, you stay awake. We’re almost there.”

“’n’t hav’ta keep doing that.”

“If I stayed here, I’d’ve been grounded because of you, and now, I’m probably going to be grounded when I get to Ireland. Be lucky I didn’t dunk your head in water.”

“’s no water ‘round. Weren’t at the park, either.”

“Good, you’re starting to show logic and observing of your surroundings. That’s good, innit?”

“Coulda wit’ the rubbish bins, though. ‘hanks for not. Can I have some water, please?”

“Soon,” Aaron answers. He pulls into the A&E car park.

…

“Ugh,” Gabby groans. “I hate my mum and Laurel both, and my dad’s useless.”

Smiling, Liv plays with her hair.

“Thank you,” Gabby continues.

“No problem.”

“Please, don’t go. You’re my best mate. We need each other.”

“So you can lash out and push me away the next time something goes wrong? I have nothing here, Gabby. You’re my only mate, a brother who doesn’t listen to me, his mum, who doesn’t like or want me around, and his fiancé, who wants me gone even more than her, only, he’s gotten so much better at hiding it. That’s what I have.”

“Aaron listened today,” Gabby says.

“And I’m glad, but that was for your sake. Because your mum told him I didn’t lie about you being bullied, and so, when he heard you were in trouble, again, he wasn’t going to risk not listening.”

There’s a knock on the door, and Sandra comes in. “Gabby, your parents are here. Livvie, why don’t we give them some privacy, love?”

In the waiting room, Robert smiles and squeezes Liv’s hand before she sits down between Sandra and Aaron.

“Sweetheart, Mum and Aaron have been talking,” Sandra starts, “and I can’t miss anymore work right, now, but if you need to stay a bit while your friend recovers, I understand. Aaron and Robert were worried, but I told them my brave girl’s never been afraid of flying alone. Whenever you’re ready, you can come over to Dublin.”

“You will need to go back to school on Wednesday, though,” Robert interjects.

“And me and you need to talk privately about all this skivving you’ve been doing,” Sandra says.

Rolling her eyes, Liv shakes her head. “Aaron and I have already talked about it, Mum. I do understand it’s important. Even if I don’t go to uni, which I might not, I want to have a decent future. I can’t promise I won’t do stupid things when I’m upset or angry, but I’m trying. The rest of the time, no matter how boring, I’ll go and only cause trouble if I’m standing up for myself or someone else.”

“And you’ll tell us or someone when you need help with a subject so that a solution can be figured out,” Robert adds.

Liv nods. “Still hate maths, though, and if I had any real choice, I’d chuck that subject done the drain.”

Chuckling, Sandra hugs her. “Aaron and Robert brought over some cakes and other snacks. Why don’t we all go back to the motel, and later, you can bring some over to Gabby?”

…

Chas sits down by the pool next to Liv. “So, you’ve been having your say for days, now. I reckon it’s time I had mine.”

Liv sighs. “Yeah, alright.”

“When you lied to me, not only was I angry and disappointed, I was hurt. I thought we’d gotten close enough that you wouldn’t do that anymore. That you’d gotten to have more respect for me than that. Just like you’ve done, I lashed out. Now, I’ll admit, I went too far. As your mum would no doubt say, I am the grownup, and you’re the kid. But not only did what you do was wrong, it hurt, Liv.”

“I’m sorry, Chas,” Liv quietly says. “I do- I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I do respect you. It’s just, Gabby was around, and I didn’t see how the lie could hurt. Which I know is the wrong way to- I just don’t always stop to think sometimes. Well, most of the time, really. And I am trying to work on that, whether you or Aaron believe it or not.”

“Oh, love." Putting her arm around Liv, she says, “We do. Sweetheart, you might not have my blood, but you, me, and Aaron, we’re all cut from the same cloth. In some ways, Aaron understands this even better than I do, but whether you and he understand this or not, him always letting you have your way on everything isn’t good."

"I learned this the hard way: When you’re a grownup, the world is full of rules and boundaries, and you can try to fight some of them, in fact, some of them, you _should_ fight, but if you go through life doing absolutely whatever you want and only looking out for yourself, eventually, you’re going to find yourself in trouble and all alone. Others won’t be able to get you out, and no one is going to care that, deep down, you’re a good person.”

“I know,” Liv says. “But the fact I am really trying should mean something.”

“It does. That doesn’t mean you should always get slack. But,” she acknowledges, “it does mean we should always try to listen so that we can try to figure out when you should. Liv, even though I’d miss you all terribly, because it’d make Aaron happy, I do hope you and him and Robert can find a home soon. Somewhere not far from here, but a place we’re you three can be a proper little family together. Until they find a place, though, I don’t mind having you living us. Me and you, we just had a little conflict, right? You could come back.”

She hesitates. “But you can’t threaten to go off every time-”

“I’ve not threatening anything!" She shrugs Chas’s arm off. “I wasn’t. My mum called me, and she somehow knew I was upset, and she decided to come here. And once she did, she suggested I go with her. Aaron and Robert decided to bring the cake and sweets over on their own. I haven’t tried to get anything out of this. Gabby doesn’t count, that was-”

“Hey." Putting the arm back around her, Chas says, “I know. That came out wrong on my part, and I’m sorry. I just meant, if you stay, you can’t threaten to leave when you don’t get your way. I know this wasn’t about that, but Miss Olivia, if you truly can’t see how much this is hurting Aaron, we need to see if they have good optometrists in Ireland. If not, we’ll need to take you to one here before you go.”

“He’s not hurting that bad,” Liv says.

“Oh, no, then, how’s it that I’ve been getting a decent night’s sleep for the last few nights?”

Liv gives her a confused look, and Chas explains, “If you weren’t such a heavy sleeper, I’d worry about you moving into a house with those two with no one there to remind you to put in earplugs.”

Groaning, Liv asks, “He and Robert aren’t having problems again so soon are they?”

“No, Robert’s still sleeping in their room, but with his baby sister, who he practically worships, leaving because of what he thinks is his fault, I reckon he hasn’t been in the mood lately. Which incidentally, as soon as they start up again, every time I forget my earplugs, you’re getting a nasty call or text, young lady. Get me sleep-deprived enough, and I’m booking a flight to Dublin.”

“Robert will remind you.”

“He’ll remind me on the nights they have definite plans. I need them in every night for those nights when no definite plans mean nowt.”

They both laugh.

Moving back over, Liv says, “It’s not his fault or yours. I just, I keep messing up, and it hurts when I do, especially when you or him- maybe me and my mum can handle things better than we all have been.”

“Maybe you can,” Chas sadly acknowledges. “It seems you and Gabby are doing better, though. Why don’t you stay while she deals with all this, and we can see if the four of us have a chance of fixing this?”

“Yeah, alright,” Liv says.

…

“Lawrence still cares about me,” Gabby tells Liv. “Even with all that’s going on with Lachlan, he came to visit. And he and my mum and Laurel talked, and if I stop skivving and drinking, there’s this summer camp that has horseback riding every day, and you get to pick your own horse to care for while there. They have options for vegetarian meals, too. He’ll help send me.”

“Good.”

“It’d be better if you stayed.”

“I dunno,” Liv says. “Things have been better, but Mum still seems excited about me coming. I feel like I should give her a chance.”

“Couldn’t you visit in the summer while I’m at camp?”

“I’ll see.”

…

Over the phone, Sandra says, “Liv, if you want to stay with Aaron, I won’t be cross or upset."

There’s a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Liv, have you taken-” Aaron starts.

“If this is about the Robert’s books, I’ve already told him to check under Charity’s bed!”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Everything alright, love?”

“Yeah, it’s- hold on-” Looking over at Robert, she asks, “What?”

“You told me to look under Noah’s bed.”

“Well, that’s where Noah’s been sleeping, innit?”

“Well, yes, but-”

Covering the phone, Liv hollers, “Aaron, your fiancé’s being annoying! Come take him, now!”

Appearing, Aaron shoves some books in Robert’s hands. “Right. Is that your mum or Gabby? Do you need to get Gabby some more of those-” He practically blanches. “That she- for her monthly?”

“No, the vegan tampons I ordered were delivered last week, and the package was jumbo-sized. I’m talking to my mum about how she’ll need to wait for this summer to see me.”

Suddenly, she finds herself being hugged by Aaron as a smiling Robert talks to her mum.


End file.
